The Missing Applications Found: Robust Design Techniques and Novel Uses of Memristors

Resistive memory, also known as memristor, is an emerging potential successor to traditional CMOS charge based memories. Memristors have also recently been proposed as a promising candidate for several additional applications such as logic design, sensing, non-volatile storage, neuromorphic computing, Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs), Content-addressable memory (CAM) and reconfigurable computing. In this paper, we explore three unique applications of memristor technology based implementations, specifically from the perspective of sensing, logic, in-memory computing and their solutions. We review solar cell health monitoring and diagnosis, describe the proposed solutions, and provide directions in memristive gas sensing and in-memory computing. For the gas sensor application, in order to determine the number of memristors to ensure a certain level of accuracy in sensitivity, a technique to optimize the sensor array based on an acceptable sensitivity variation and minimum sensitivity margin is presented. These “out-of-the-box” emerging ideas for applications of memristive devices in enhancing robustness and, at the same time, how the requirements of robust design are enabling unconventional use of the devices. To this end, the papers considers some examples of this mutual interaction.